


Always my elfling

by FuryFiction



Category: Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Corporal Punishment, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Non-Sexual Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-22
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2017-11-26 12:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/650525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FuryFiction/pseuds/FuryFiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Misbehaviour during the King's absence is unwise. Legolas learns the hard way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Right, _where_ is he?" exclaimed the King of Mirkwood, as he burst through the door of Elrond's private study, giving the poor elf quite a scare. The day had started off relatively quiet up until Thranduil's abrupt arrival -- and now any chance of a peaceful morning seemed thwarted as the servants scattered about like frightened rabbits to avoid their royal visitor's wrath.

"It's wonderful to see you too, old friend," was the Lord of Rivendell's response to the greeting that never came and he fought to get his breath back as he all but cowered behind his desk, "I would advise knocking next time though, my dear. I'm not as young as I used to be and I fear excessive shock may be the death of me."

Thranduil visibly softened and he pressed an apologetic kiss to Elrond's cold cheek, "I apologise, my Lord," his eyes flickered around the study like a cat, "I came as soon as I received your letter. I take it my son has been causing you a world of trouble?"

He was referring to Legolas, whose attention had been fixated on one of the many bookshelves in the study up until his father appeared; now he reclined to the corner, his bottom lip curled up behind his teeth like a child that had been caught stealing from the pantry. He met his father's eyes and gave him a small, albeit hesitant smile. Thranduil's expression remained as bland as a stone.

"Ion nin, come here," was all the elder elf had to say for Legolas' smile to dissolve; he approached the king in three cautious steps, looking up with bright cerulean eyes, "I left you in the care of Elrond with the understanding that you would behave appropriately and responsibly while I attended your cousin's wedding in the south -- am I wrong?"

Legolas went pink, "no, Ada."

"Then why, my darling, did I receive a letter two days ago claiming that you and the twins had stolen two elks from the stables and galloped off into the forest at night to hunt down a clutter of spiders? And then proceeded to trespass into enemy territory to throw stones at goblins and capture a Warg pup to keep as a pet? Is any of this true or has Elrond been at the wine again?"

Legolas' lips twitched awkwardly side to side, "actually, he left out the part where I scared Glorfindel half to death by pretending to be a Warg myself."

Thranduil found himself biting the inside of his cheek rather desperately in an effort not to laugh; he was supposed to be angry with the boy after all, "ion nin, I'm beginning to tire of you running off and risking your life for the sake of showing off in front of your friends. Don't you realise how _worried_ I've been?"

Legolas frowned, "Worried? About _me_? I'm old enough to look after myself, Ada, I wish you wouldn't treat me like such a child!"

Upon reflecting on this ordeal, Legolas would be surprised that Thranduil had not taken him over his knee right then and there. He wouldn't have blamed the king, given the way his silver tongue was cutting through layers and layers of patience; but instead Thranduil reached out and caught the boy's chin between his thumb and forefinger, his touch feather-light.

"Yes, worried. It's a father's duty to worry about his uncontrollable son who takes great pleasure in scaring the life out of him for the sake of a jest," replied Thranduil calmly, "and I tire of your attitude as well as your disobedience. Do you remember what I said would happen if you got yourself into such trouble in my absence?"

"You said-" Legolas cut himself off and his eyes got a bit wider.

Elrond cocked one slender eyebrow ever so slightly as he observed father and son, who were desperately trying to stare each other out like two cave trolls before a duel. Despite his outward defiance, Legolas undoubtedly trembled. It seemed that even now, in his 'maturity' (or lack of,) his father's frown was still enough to make his palms sweat and his skin crawl; a single, cool glare was enough to set the young elf on the edge of anticipation of what was going to happen next. And now Thranduil would be giving him a less than brief demonstration of how much he still had to learn about crossing the King of Mirkwood. 

This observation from Elrond was interrupted by a nervous scoff from the blond elf who was desperately attempting to compose what dignity he had left, "what? Are you going to _spank_ me Ada?" he laughed again, though his voice had blatantly raised an octave higher, "you can't be serious!"

Thranduil remained horribly unamused, "on the contrary, that is exactly what I plan to do," and Legolas could see that Elrond had already passed him a chair to place in the centre of the room.

"But…you can't-"

"My darling Greenleaf, I think you'll find I can. This is for your own good," replied the king, shifting to get into a more comfortable position on the chair as he sat and took Legolas gently by the forearm, "now enough admonishment, child. Over my lap.'

"But _Ada_..." Legolas whined but he seemed to have come to the realisation that arguing was pointless by now. Reluctantly, he sucked in his chest and drew himself over his father's lap, determined not to satisfy the elder elf by showing a single hint of discomfort, though he wriggled slightly in an attempt to get Thranduil's knee out of his gut. The elven-king was stronger than he looked; despite his age he still had the build of a soldier and his hand was still capable of turning a bottom red after all those years of sword wielding.

"I'm so sorry about this Elrond," Thranduil turned his head to the elf who was standing quite content in the corner, "I hope this will not be of any inconvenience to you."

"Not at all," Elrond replied, earning a glare from Legolas that could have frozen beer.

"As tedious as they may be, we have rules, Legolas," his father's voice was a dark, firm hiss above him as he began the spanking, "rules are there to keep us safe; to protect mischevious little elflings like you who always seem to be landing themselves in trouble. What were you thinking, gallivanting off into the woods like that when you _knew_ it was dangerous, when you _knew_ Elrond specifically forbade you to go there after dark?"

"I'm not a child anymore," Legolas muttered through clenched teeth, his pride already broken, only to be met with another painful smack.

"Yes but you certainly act like one!" Thranduil replied with an impatient snap but he swiftly collected himself and paused, calming his impending temper. An elf was never to spank his child in blind anger, even in the most frustrating circumstances. He resumed in his usual husk purr, "and I shall continue to treat you like one until you learn to behave. I can't believe you could be so thoughtless! Not only putting your own life in danger but the twins' as well."

That struck a chord. Legolas had never really considered what may have happened to the twins. In his own selfish world he had assumed the twins were perfectly capable of keeping themselves out of danger but the more he dwelled on the subject, the more he came to realise the severity of the situation; a brief moment of stupidity, or Elladan's clumsiness, and he could have easily resulted in the loss of two of his closest friends. The thought itself was enough to keep his tongue behind his teeth before he could argue back. 

As punishment continued, Legolas began to find it increasingly difficult to keep quiet as he felt the blood swelling into both his glowing cheeks, which he could only imagine were turning into a healthy shade of red beneath his leggings. The smacks hurt. They left his bottom feeling hot and sore. And his father's voice rang soundly in his ears, refusing to give him a moment's peace.

"And what if one of the spiders had got you, hmm?" Thranduil cut into his thoughts once more, "you could have been killed or worse -- you could have been _bitten_. Spider venom kills slowly; you would have died in agony."

"They wouldn't have got me." Legolas sounded highly irritated, his voice a mere whisper beneath his breath, "I'm not such a fool that I'd be stupid and careless enough to get myself caught. It's comforting to know you have such faith in me, Ada!"

"That's it. I've _had_ it with you, my elfling."

"I'm not a-" Legolas fell silent as he felt the hem of his tunic riding up and suddenly his leggings were pooled around his ankles, throbbing arse exposed to the cold air, "Ada?"

"Perhaps _this_ will help me get through to you, little one," Thranduil replied firmly and in the corner of his eye, Legolas noticed Elrond place something in his outstretched hand, 'I was going to spare you the hairbrush but you just talked yourself into it."

Exposed and completely helpless, the warm tongues of humiliation finally began to grow on Legolas and he wished he had never allowed his big mouth to get the better of him. He found that the spanking grew more solid now that he was bare-bottomed and at the mercy of the brush; the smooth wood beat mercilessly down upon the tender flesh, slapping long red stripes which left a vile sting and several dusty marks. Legolas began gasping at each spank, embarrassing little sounds that he couldn't help but allow to fall past his lips as his bottom was quickly turned a vast shade of red, sure to turn purple, and the pain rapidly brought tears to his eyes.

"You may claim you are an adult, ion nin," said his father from above, 'but you act like anything but. You're still my elfling, still my baby and if anything ever happened to you, it would break my heart to the point of death."

"Y-yes Ada," Legolas shuddered, his defensive state slowly beginning to crumble as he succumbed to the pain, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Elrond, I'm sorry."

"You need to start considering the consequences of your actions. Otherwise one day you'll run yourself into a heap of trouble and you'll have no idea what to do. Do you understand?"

"Yes Ada," Legolas shuddered in reply, his voice ripe with sobs as his eyes slid close and he concentrated on nothing but the pain.

Thranduil allowed his own eyes to lower slightly, "One day I will not be here, Legolas..."

He felt his son flinch in his hold.

"...and you'll have no choice but to watch out for yourself. I cannot always be here to protect you, so I must know that I can trust you to keep yourself out of danger."

Legolas' teeth sank into his bottom lip and it seemed in those split seconds he realised that his father was on his side. He was always on his side and his main priority had always been to protect his son and keep him safe. All that tension, that bitterness, that hostility towards the elder elf who he viewed to be an obstacle in his path to adulthood suddenly melted into nothing when he realised he would be nowhere without the security of his father. He was far too stubborn to admit it, but he would be nowhere. Probably dead in the forest somewhere as the result of his own recklessness. 

His eyes rapidly began to spill tears and he dropped his head in submission, "I-I'm sorry Ada, I'll never disobey either of you ever again!"

The spanks began to lighten but that failed to cease Legolas' sobs, "I love you to the Grey Havens and back Legolas but if putting you over my knee for the rest of your life means you'll pay heed to my rules in the future, then I'll do it."

"Yes Ada," Legolas choked, his spirits completely shattered, "I'm so, _so_ sorry."

The last smack made even the noble figure of Elrond jerk slightly in his spot and Thranduil finally set the brush aside. Legolas fell into the final stages of weeping uncontrollably and the king allowed him a moment or two to cry out all his tears, gently rubbing the warm glow on his bottom, before reaching down and tentatively pulling his leggings back up to his waist with care not to cause further pain. His slim fingers reached down and caressed the quaking skin of the prince's back a while longer until the weeping fell to a snivelling hush and he carefully brought his son up to cradle in his arms. The tension between them seemed to shatter into pieces.

"I think my work here is done." He said gently as he rocked back and forth to settle the young elf, "there now ion nin, shh. It's all over now, my baby, shh..."

"P-please forgive me," Legolas' voice wavered, face burrowed into the crook of the king's neck, wetting it with a few of his remaining tears, "please Ada."

"Hush, you're already forgiven, little one. Do not despair."

Once the boy had calmed down, Thranduil craned his head up to look at Elrond who had slowly drifted closer when the punishment was complete to assist him in comforting the mischevious elf, "thank you for your patience and hospitality, my friend. I can't imagine what you must think of Mirkwood elves now, after all this."

"Only good things," replied Elrond, kissing Thranduil between the eyes and leaning down to do the same to Legolas, "and you needn't move the chair, dear. My twins are due in here any minute. I'll have Lindir ready the cushions."

* * *

"Ada?"

Thranduil glanced at his son, trying hard to ignore the howls that came from Elrond's study as Elladan received the chastisement he so richly deserved with the assistance of his father's hairbrush.

"You know when you called me your elfling...?"

"Yes, I know how you despise that. I'll try not to-"

"No, Ada, you're right. I'm nearly grown but I still have much to learn and there's no shame in asking for guidance in the meantime. I was wondering if perhaps...perhaps I can be your elfling a little while longer?"

Thranduil smiled and Legolas cherished that moment - for Thranduil had little to smile about since Nana had passed - and he drew himself close to his father, glowing as he felt the tenderness of lips brushing against his forehead, "you'll _always_ be my elfling, ion nin. For as long as I live."

The aura of love and trust that passed between them as they embraced briefly morphed into a grimace as Elrohir took his turn over his father's knee and yelled to the high heavens.


	2. Bonus chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Request. In which Legolas scares Glorfindel half to death pretending to be a warg.

***24 hours previous***

 

‘I swear to Valor, Elladan – if this ends badly for me, I’ll stuff my bow down your throat.’

Elladan smirked, ‘relax, what’s the worse that could happen?’

‘Have you ever been on the tail end of one of my Ada’s spankings? I can assure you, it is not a pleasant experience.’

‘It’ll be worth it, trust me,’ the elder twin adjusted the Warg fur onto Legolas’ back, bringing the head of it down over the blond elf’s eyes ever so slightly so it covered his long hair, ‘just stick to the plan and it can’t go wrong.’

‘After that fiasco with the spiders in the forest, I’m surprised your father’s still allowing me to stay here,’ Legolas sighed, his skin itching from the fur, ‘are you _sure_ this a good idea?’

‘You want to hear Glorfindel scream like a maiden don’t you?’

‘Of course, but I highly doubt a balrog-slayer will find something as trivial as a _warg_ frightening.’

‘You’d be surprised,’ said Elrohir from his hiding place, ‘he can’t stand the things. The very mention of them has him squirming during council meetings.’

‘I don’t believe it.’

‘You’ll see,’ Elladan grinned at the sound of approaching footsteps, ‘there he is! Quick, get ready!’

Legolas could already picture the look of disapproval on Thranduil’s face as he readied himself around the corner of the hall, the Warg fur prised over his head as he leapt out of the shadows and in front of the unsuspecting passer-by, putting on his infamous beast roar that always got the servants back at home fleeing for the Grey Havens.

The twins were right. Glorfindel _did_ scream like a maiden. 


End file.
